The Story Behind the Criminal Conversations Screenplay

By Si Dunn

The screenplay for Criminal Conversations explores several areas that intrigue me. (Here's the logline: A man meets up again with his ex-wife while his current spouse is dying and his ex-wife's current husband is suing her for divorce and trying to prove she is guilty of adultery.)

First, I am interested in what can happen when two people who have had a previous, unhappy history together suddenly need each other again, yet they are constrained by forces both inside and outside their new circumstances.

The youthful marriage of Ted and Alexandra ended badly several decades ago, and the two of them moved on to separate, successful lives and new marriages.

Now, they are in their fifties, and happenstance has brought them back together just at the time when their current lives are crumbling.

They could try to be friends or lovers again. They both need someone who understands them and they are increasingly are aware of their own mortality and how time is beginning to run out in their lives. But both of them are still married. There are strict limitations on teacher-student relationships. They have the feelings of their own families to consider, and they are being spied on Alexandra’s estranged husband, Frank.

One wrong move could cause them both to be sued for “criminal conversation,” an old legal term for adultery.

How can they be close again and helpful to each other while maintaining what the law and society would consider a “respectable” distance?

Secondly, I am interested in exploring how two people who once loved each other can find enough forgiveness to overcome the transgressions that tore apart their marriage. They cannot go back and change the past -- anyway, they would not want to give up their children and the careers they have formed since they went their separate ways.

Yet, their new circumstances have thrown them together in a way that causes them both to face a choice: Can the one who was wronged forgive the one who bears the most blame? And, can forgiveness, contrition and the healing passage of time lead to a renewed relationship--one that can succeed this time?

In a third area of interest, the Criminal Conversations story examines how sudden new realities in peoples’ lives can turn their lives in unexpected – and sometimes unwanted – directions that ultimately prove beneficial. At the same time, these changed directions may be limited or misinterpreted or exploited by others outside the new relationship.

Fourth, Criminal Conversations also explores greed and deceit in a divorce setting. It looks at student-faculty relationships in a college or university setting. And it deals with the process of teaching and imparting knowledge.

 As all of this unfolds, the major characters in Criminal Conversations confront matters that include their feelings about life, life after death, faith, courage, and love in the face of death.

I think you’ll be surprised at how it all turns out.

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For more information:

The project's one-sheet is available at: http://bit.ly/9JNu6N.
A recent draft of the script can be read at: http://bit.ly/c4VEAX.
A video about the screenplay can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4sPZasOf1o.

Donations of any size can be made via PayPal to si@sagecreekproductions.com. Donors will receive on-screen thanks in the movie's ending credits. It is not necessary to have a PayPal account to donate.

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Tips for Screenplay Beginners

Do not be fooled by how simple a screenplay appears on the printed page. You may spend up to a year or more writing and rewriting a feature-length script.

Be prepared to rework each new screenplay several times. And get feedback from others -- friends, relatives, strangers, actors, script readers -- before attempting to submit it to production companies, literary managers or agents. Most producers or managers or agents who agree to look at a script often will only give a writer one chance to impress them with that screenplay. You are competing with thousands of other writers in a very crowded marketplace.

Be very careful. There are many good script services and many good producers, managers and agents. And, there are some really bad ones with clever schemes to get your money. Check out everyone and every offer before writing any checks or giving up any credit card information. (Indeed, consider using PayPal.com instead of a credit card, for more protection.)

Consider writing short screenplays first. There is a steady market for screenplays in the range of five to 15 or 20 pages. Often, these are sought by first-time moviemakers. You may be paid little or nothing for your script, but getting a script produced and seeing it on a screen (movie, TV, mobile device, etc.) with your name after "Screenplay by..." is the Holy Grail for screenwriters.

Educated perseverance is a strong key to getting a screenplay sold or optioned. Keep learning as you keep trying. And be prepared to spend years on the process of writing and marketing screenplays.

DO NOT give up your day job thinking you are going to get fabulously rich from screenplays. Sometimes, it can take 10 years or longer to make any money at all from screenwriting.

After you finish your first screenplay, start revising it. And get started on your second script, third, fourth, and so on. Producers, agents and managers may not like your first script, but they often will ask: "What else do you have?" If you don't have another screenplay to offer, you may have missed a golden opportunity.

-- Si Dunn